Love Stinks!
by xXHamHamLoverXx
Summary: An AsuxAya shoujo-ai fic. First chapter: Class 2-A has a round of Truth Or Dare. Rated T.


This is my first Negima!: Magister Negi Magi fan fiction. There will be numerous couples here, but it's mostly centering around AyaxAsu. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep this as a one-shot or not, depending on the feedback. We'll see.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Negima!, nor will I ever.

_**Love Stinks**_

_**A Fan Fiction by:**_

_**xXHamHamLoverXx**_

**Chapter I: Love Stinks! And so does Truth or Dare!**

Looking out of her dorm room window, Asuna Kagurazaka couldn't sleep. She knew she had to wake up early in the morning to do her newspaper route, but it was already 11 o'clock at night and she wasn't the least bit tired. So she sighed, got out of her bed, and placed a sweatshirt and sweatpants on, trying not to wake up Konoka or Negi. She closed the door softly behind her and walked down the stairs of the dorm room building, the bells in her hair ringing softly in the evening silence. She stepped into the cool atmosphere of the outside, starting to walk away from the building down the street. As she walked, Asuna wondered where she was supposed to be going. Sure, she had come out here because she couldn't sleep, but how was _this_ supposed to help her sleep?!

_Wow, Asuna...you can sure be dumb sometimes..._she thought to herself, and as she got lost in her thoughts, she noticed herself appearing in front of an empty park. She sat on a nearby bench, gripping her knees with her hands, closing her eyes. Trying to clear her mind...of what? Nowadays, her mind seemed to be a constant void of emotions. Was she supposed to be feeling all these things at the age she was now?

And then, for some odd reason, the image of Ayaka Yukihiro, her blond childhood friend, came into her mind. She saw that same smug expression on her face, and she growled in frustration and threw a rock into the lake. But she knew she was smiling inside, for some odd reason, she knew that deep down, she still cared about Ayaka...a lot. She stood at the edge of the lake, looking down at her reflection, illuminated by the moon, the ripples of the thrown rock starting to fade. As she looked down at her own reflection, she could see Ayaka's face perfectly, staring right back at her. She growled again and kicked at the water, causing it to flow into her shoe, and she sighed, taking her shoe off and pouring out the water back into the lake.

"Better calm down, Bells. You'll wake up half of Tokyo with your outbursts." Asuna tensed up, hearing that familiar voice, and whirled around, seeing the face of Ayaka watching her, that smug grin on her face. Asuna glared, this was SO not what she needed right now...a confrontation with Ayaka.

"Back off, Blondie. What are you doing out here, anyway? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Isn't it past yours?"

They glared at each other, as usual. Asuna dropped her determination to keep up the argument and sat back down on the bench, trying to fan her sock to dry it out. So far, it was too cold for it to do any drying at all. Seeing Ayaka sit next to her, she rolled her eyes and made no direct eye contact.

"Did you follow me out here?" she asked, irritated, still tending to her shoe. Asuna couldn't see her face, but she knew that Ayaka was grinning at her.

"And what if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing. Just go away," Asuna said, sighing and placing her wet sock back on. It made a funny squishing sound when she slipped back into her shoe, which was still damp, and finally looked back up at Ayaka. There was a moment of silence between them in which they stared each other down, glaring at each other, like they usually did. Asuna could feel the tension in the air caused by them, and could almost feel Ayaka's breath whisk past her. She could feel her face grow warm, and was glad that it was dark.

"So," Ayaka started, leaning back onto the bench so that they weren't staring at each other anymore, facing the lake. Asuna followed. "Why _are_ you out here so late?"

"I couldn't sleep," Asuna admitted, letting her arms rest on the back of the bench, her fingers inches away from touching Ayaka's shoulder. "I wanted some fresh air, so I came out here. What are you doing out here?"

"Same," Ayaka said, shrugging. "I kept tossing and turning, and I decided to take a walk to calm myself. Funny how that works out, huh?"

Asuna sighed, looking out at the lake. "Yeah, funny how that works..." Sometimes Asuna wondered if life was playing a trick on her sometimes. Let's give the poor, confused girl some love problems. Let's see her try to grapple with them. Ooh, what fun.

In the midst of her thoughts, Asuna was somehow able to feel Ayaka's hand on her shoulder. She slowly looked up at her, seeing the softened, concerned expression made her smile a bit.

"You okay there, Bells? You kinda spaced out for a minute there." Asuna nodded, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them for warmth. She felt Ayaka's hand extend to her other shoulder tentatively, and she looked up at her, slightly confused. She wasn't looking at her, and Asuna took a chance and gently rested her head on Ayaka's outstretched arm, closing her eyes and smiling. Since when was the last time they did something like this? Elementary school?

It seemed like a long while later when they finally pulled away from each other, both embarrassed, and walked back to the dorms, Ayaka slightly ahead of Asuna. Rubbing her arm nervously, Asuna followed behind, not saying a word. She was sure that they were not going to speak of this night to anyone, _ever_, if they could help it. Asuna's dorm room was closer than Ayaka's, so they both stopped in front of the door, still not speaking. Asuna looked to Ayaka, then turned for the door.

"Well...night, then, Ayaka..." she said, softly, and turned the doorknob. Ayaka nodded and started to walk down the hallway, muttering "Goodnight, Asuna," back, and Asuna grinned at the fact that she hadn't called her "Bells", for once. When climbing into her bed, still in her sweatpants and sweatshirt, she could still see the emotion behind those green eyes, and she knew that whatever Asuna was feeling at the moment, Ayaka was feeling, too. She'd have to talk to Konoka about this in the morning...

--

"Are you saying that you and Ayaka had a romantic escapade in the park last night?" Konoka asked bluntly over lunch the next day. Asuna glared at her and continued to eat.

"No, it wasn't like that at all. At least...I don't think so. Anyways, it was just weird! I mean, we haven't been that close to each other since 'Em school, and even back then, we were always fighting like we do now!" Asuna said frantically, jabbing at a sushi roll with her chopsticks. Konoka giggled.

"Maybe you're in love with each other."

When Konoka said that, Asuna practically choked on the roll. Composing herself in the next few seconds, she looked to Konoka in horror. "WHAT?! Are you serious? Me and Ayaka? You're crazy!"

Konoka shrugged. "All the signs are there. I mean, if leaning into each other isn't a sign of chemistry, I don't know what is anymore. Look, obviously she still cares about you, so how about you try not to be so mean to each other? Maybe you can get somewhere with her."

"As if!" Asuna said, crossing her arms. Konoka just smiled and continued to eat her food.

"Look, if there was nothing going on, you wouldn't be making such a big deal about it, right? So just relax. It could be nothing at all."

Asuna sighed, her face turning slightly red, and she continued to eat her lunch. Great. Now she was going to start avoiding Ayaka, when she was the one person she wanted most in her life. Maybe Konoka was right. Maybe this was nothing to get all uptight about. And at the same time...maybe it was. But Asuna decided that she wasn't going to worry about it much.

So why, then, when Ayaka came into the room a few minutes later, did she blush and look the other way? What bothered her about last night that much? Was it the fact that, while she was so close to Ayaka, that she was having the same feelings for her that she used to have for Professor Takahata?

_No way..._she thought to herself, and as class started again, she shivered. _What if I really am...in love...with Ayaka? _Asuna shook her head and laughed, and after school, when she was walking with Konoka back to the dorms after their clubs, she sighed.

"What's with the sigh, Asuna?" Konoka asked, fiddling with her uniform. Asuna looked at her shoes, and sighs.

"Ya know what, Konoka?"

"What?"

"Love stinks."

Konoka laughed, placing a hand on Asuna's shoulder, and they continued to walk. A few silent minutes later, Konoka spoke again.

"So. Are you going to see her again?"

"You idiot! We see each other every day at school!" Though she knew perfectly well that wasn't what Konoka was referring too.

Konoka rolled her eyes. "I mean alone."

Asuna shrugged, not responding, and a moment later someone bumped into her, causing her to take a side-step. She looked up, and Ayaka was staring at her.

"Watch where your going, Bells. Or is your head too far up your butt for you to be able to see anything?"

Asuna's eyes flared. "What was that, Blondie?!" Ayaka smirked at her.

"Apparently it affects your hearing ability, too."

Asuna stepped forward, getting her fists ready, but Konoka stopped her, grabbing her sleeve and pulling her back. "Honestly, be nice."

"'Nice' was never in Asuna's vocabulary, unfortunately," Ayaka said, and with another smirk, she started to leave. Her chest heaving, Asuna watched her go.

"It was never in YOUR vocabulary, either! Damn it, I hate her!" Asuna said, stomping all the way towards the dorms, ignoring Konoka's _knowing_ smile as much as she could. It was really no good, no matter what happened, they always ended up fighting. It seemed they couldn't go one day without saying something incredibly mean to each other. Which gave Asuna an idea...

About two hours later, when the rest of the girls were filing into the dorms, Asuna appeared before Ayaka when she got to her dorm. Ayaka stared her down, as usual.

"What could _you_ possibly want, Bells?"

Asuna grinned. "To challenge you."

Ayaka blinked, as well as a few other girls who were in the same hallway as them at the time. "A challenge, huh? Hasn't got anything to do with P.E, does it?"

Asuna's inside flared, but she ignored it. "I bet that you couldn't go one single day without saying anything mean to me. Sorry to say, I don't think you'd be able to."

"What? What kind of challenge is that?" Ayaka asked, apparently beside herself. Asuna grinned again.

"Are you saying that you can't? Admitting defeat already?"

That must have gotten to her, because Ayaka glared at her, pointing a finger in Asuna's face. "Asuna Kagurazaka, I accept your challenge!"

"Oh, dear..." Konoka said softly, shaking her head. Asuna was still grinning, however, and moved Ayaka's hand away.

"Good. The loser of the bet has to do the winner's homework for the rest of the semester. If you say one mean thing..." Asuna said, holding up one finger. "Anything at all, even if you call me 'Bells', you lose. Wanna back out now?"

"As _if_, Bells. I accepted, and I'm looking forward to you doing my homework for the rest of semester."

"That's Asuna-san, to you."

They glared at each other, as usual, and Ayaka turned away, toward her dorm room. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning...Asuna-_san_." With that, Ayaka irritatedly kicked the door open, disappearing inside. With a very large, triumphant grin, Asuna turned back to Konoka, who had been watching apprehensively the entire time.

"I think we should head back to our dorm now, don't you think? I'm dead hungry!" She practically skipped down the hallway to their dorm room, greeted Negi cheerfully, and headed off to the kitchen to make dinner. The image that she had of Ayaka right now, who was probably fuming and kicking things around in her dorm room, cursing Asuna's name, kept her cheerful for the rest of the night. She was very much looking forward to the next day. Why she even challenged Ayaka today, she had no idea. Maybe it was just the mere fact that she was irritating her...and Asuna _loved_ to irritate her. They were still best friends, deep down. _Very_ deep down. Maybe that was why they loved to pick on each other. Yes, that was the only reason.

_Stop kidding yourself, Asuna,_ she heard Konoka's voice clear inside of her head as she lay down to sleep. _You like her, and that's final._

Konoka was always jumping to conclusions like that, so it really shouldn't bother Asuna. So...why did it?

--

The next morning dawned bright and early. Asuna hummed happily as she got ready for school, and as she walked out of her dorm room, she saw Ayaka walking past. "Good morning, Ayaka-san!" she said cheerfully. Ayaka flinched at her voice, looking to her, then looked away and muttered "Good morning, Asuna-san," back. Asuna grinned and looked to Konoka.

"She's losing already. At this rate, she's going to have plenty of work to do for the rest of semester." Konoka rolled her eyes, as they both started walking towards the school.

"Why did you challenge her, anyway?"

"To piss her off."

Konoka grinned. "Typical, typical."

Asuna laughed a bit, she was feeling very cheerful, like nothing could bring her down. She skipped into her seat next to Konoka, and watched as Ayaka irritatedly walked to her own seat, practically running over poor Sakurako to get there.

"Don't you think this is going a bit overboard? Ayaka looks really angry," Konoka whispered, as Negi started class. Asuna was too busy humming and grinning to take notice. During lunch, both Asuna and Ayaka ironically had day duty together, and the urge to say something mean was a sour taste in both mouths. But they kept quiet, saying very little to each other as they helped each other move the classroom supplies around to where they were supposed to go. Every single nice thing Ayaka said was coated with venom, though she couldn't do anything about it. A bet was a bet, and neither girl wanted to lose. Then again, they were both breaking under the pressure of being nice.

When class started again, Professor Negi called Asuna up to do a math problem on the board. Her face a pale-blue color, she walked up and started writing on the board. She must have been doing it wrong, because there was scattered snickering around the classroom.

"Erm...Asuna, sorry to say this, but you're supposed to be adding, not subtracting," Negi said, and the laughter erupted. Asuna's face turned puce, she refused to turn around to face her classmates as she hurriedly corrected her mistake...yet still coming out with the wrong answer.

As Negi dismissed her to her seat, an apologetic look on his face, she passed Ayaka and went to her seat. She was smirking at her. It wasn't as though she was "saying" anything mean, which was the bet. That smug glance made Asuna's insides boil, an argument was right on the tip of her tongue, waiting to spring forth. But she had to compose herself. As she sat in her seat, she saw Ayaka lean close to Sakurako, saying something, then they both glanced over at Asuna and started snickering.

"Why, I oughta..." she said quietly to herself, forming a fist on the table. The bet called that they would not say anything mean to each other. That didn't mean that they couldn't say mean things about each other to other people, and apparently Ayaka wasn't stupid enough not to realize that.

School was over, yet the bet still went on. They didn't really see each other after school, but they did see each other when it was time to go home after their clubs. By now, both Asuna and Ayaka were edging to get into an argument. Konoka sighed, they were both taking this way too far. And so, after school, she met up with Kazumi Asakura in front of the Yearbook office.

"And that's what happened last night," Konoka said, as she told Kazumi about the bet.

"Oh, I see. So they have a bet not to say anything mean to each other for the rest of the day? That isn't very long, now."

"Yes. Come 12 midnight, they'll be at it again."

Kazumi smirked. "Don't worry. I have a plan that'll make them both say something mean about each other at the same time."

Konoka looked impressed. "Kazumi, you always have something up your sleeve. What's your plan?"

Kazumi sighed, placing a pen behind her ear, and picked up her schoolbag. "A sleepover."

Konoka blinked a bit, staring at Kazumi in awe. "It's so simple...it's genius!"

--

The idea of a sleepover left Asuna suspicious. There was still school tomorrow, and whenever Konoka planned something like this, there was bound to be trouble. What was worse, was that Ayaka was going as well.

"Why, Konoka? Why?" she moaned, as they filed into their dorm room, Negi looking quite surprised to see them all there. Konoka smiled.

"Now, Asuna. Even though you don't like Ayaka, she's still friends with most of our class. So chill out, alright?"

It was surprising how many girls could fit into one dorm room. There seemed to be at least half of Class 2-A there, even Evangeline and Chachamaru decided to show up. As Asuna passed Ayaka, she grinned.

"The bet still stands until midnight," she said, without looking at her, and Ayaka rolled her eyes.

"I know that."

They hung around for a few minutes, simply chatting, and finally Ayaka spoke up. "Uh...okay. So why are we here again?"

"Well...uh..." Konoka said, looking to Kazumi, who was fiddling with her camera. She shrugged a bit. Konoka sighed, and suddenly Fuuka Narutaki spoke up over the din.

"Hey, hey! I got an idea! Why don't we play Truth, Dare or Promise?"

There was a collective groan from the girls in the room. Konoka and Kazumi smirked at each other, and Asuna glared. They _were_ up to something...weren't they?

"Why on earth would we play such a stupid game?!" Eva asked, her arms crossed. There were scattered murmurs of agreement, and Fuuka laughed.

"Honestly, you guys are a bunch of weenies! Scared of a little Truth or Dare...hah!"

"Well," Asuna put in, "I think this is an absolutely childish game."

Ayaka nodded. "For once, I have to agree with Asuna-san."

"Oh, come on, what's with you guys?!" Fuuka said, and she sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "Oh well. I suppose it can't be helped if they're cowards..."

"Cowards?!" the group said collectively, and they all changed their minds. Fuuka grinned.

"Good. Let's all sit in a circle, and then we can pick who goes first."

Since Negi decided just to watch, the rest of the girls made a circle around the living room. Being cramped, a few people decided just to sit on the couch instead of being in a circle. When the circle shape was acceptable, Fuuka clapped her hands.

"Alright. How about we pick a number out of a hat? Whoever has that number as their student number goes first. Alright?"

"Right!" everyone said, and Fuuka ripped up some paper, placing them in a hat, and shook it up, pulling out a number. "Who's number twelve?!"

Fei Ku jumped up. "_I'm_ number 12, and I first pick Fuuka! Truth, Dare, or Promise?"

Fuuka gave her a very wide grin. "I pick Dare! Bring it on!"

"I dare you to prank call Professor Takahata!"

There was a collective laugh, and Fuuka grinned and got to the nearest phone. After a few minutes, there was more laughing and slappings on the back.

"That was awesome!" Fei Ku said, laughing, and Fuuka grinned again.

"You know it! And now it's Ayaka's turn!"

Asuna looked to Ayaka, grinning, and Ayaka rolled her eyes. "Oh, fine. Dare, I suppose."

Fuuka looked around, then grinned. "Anyone wanna help me make up a dare?"

_Here we go..._Asuna thought, grinning. They sure were going to cook one up for Ayaka this time. She looked over at her, and she seemed apprehensive, which heightened Asuna's excitement. She watched as Konoka whispered in Fuuka's ear, and Fuuka started laughing.

"Oooh, boy, that's a good one!" Fuuka said, grinning, then looked to Ayaka again. "Alright, Ayaka...I dare you to...kiss Asuna on the lips!"

There was a sort of hushed silence, followed by a few gasps, "Ooooh"'s, and scattered snickering. Both Asuna and Ayaka's mouths dropped open. Kazumi, looking impressed with Konoka, started secretly fiddling with her camera again behind the couch.

"W-w-WHAT?!" Asuna and Ayaka both spluttered, both incredulous. Asuna looked to Konoka, glaring, fire in her eyes.

"You can't possibly expect us to..."

"Yep! It's a Dare, so you have to!" Fuuka said, grinning. "And if you don't, we'll all keep bothering you until you do!"

There were a few "Yeah!"'s and some clapping, laughing and excited chatter. Even Eva seemed to be enjoying herself, leaning against the wall and smirking. Asuna sighed heavily, looking to Ayaka, who looked back.

"I suppose we have no choice, then..." Ayaka muttered, moving closer to Asuna. Asuna's heart rate quickly rose, but she hid it with a glare. They both stared at each other, for a long time, it seemed. The room was silent now, Kazumi poised with her camera. The tension rose for a little while, and finally, their lips touched, for a mere second or two. The room erupted with cheers, Kazumi's camera flashed, and Asuna and Ayaka quickly pulled away from each other. Grinning, Asuna turned to Konoka, who was hovering near the doorway, smiling.

"Konoka...YOU ARE _SO_ DEAD!" she yelled, and chased Konoka out of the dorm room, a few other girls following them. Catching up with Konoka a few minutes later, she pressed her against a wall by her arms, fuming and huffing.

"Come, now, Asuna...it was just an innocent dare, nothing to go crazy over..." Konoka said, also out of breath. But no matter how she tried to make that sentence sound, Konoka still gave off a scared tone in her voice.

"Y-you...are...so...dead..." Asuna said through gritted teeth. If it wasn't for Negi coming in a few minutes later to break them up, Asuna probably really would have killed Konoka. That had been the most embarrassing thing she had ever done...besides eating 100 plates of fried tofu, of course, which had also been Konoka's fault. Letting go of Konoka, she stomped back up the stairs to the dorm room.

The rest of the night was pretty normal. They wrapped up the sleepover with a couple of rounds of Dance Dance Revolution, swapping stories, and after about three hours, everyone was asleep. Well, everyone besides Asuna and Ayaka, who were forced to sleep together in Asuna's bed since there was no room.

"Well. I suppose the bet's over," Asuna said, absentmindedly. Ayaka wasn't turned toward her, she was on her side with her back facing Asuna. "Anyway, that dare was completely stupid. It's best if we didn't mention it again, right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Ayaka said. Asuna was surprised, she was expecting something snappy or mean. But, looking to the clock, she noticed that it was only 11:45pm. They still had fifteen minutes until the bet was officially over. So that meant that Asuna could still win...

"You don't have to keep being nice to me, you know. Odds are neither of us will win the bet anyway," Asuna said, closing her eyes.

"We've still got fifteen minutes. Don't think I'm going to stop now."

"So what?"

"So nothing, that's so what!"

There was a pause, and they finally realized that they were arguing. Asuna smirked.

"You're the one who started it."

"No, you are!"

"You are."

"You started it just now!"

There was another pause, followed by a tentative laugh from the both of them. Asuna shook her head. No matter what, they were never going to come to terms with each other, they were never going to stop arguing. She knew they never would, it was like destiny...or something.

"It's never going to stop, is it?" Ayaka suddenly asked, finally turning onto her back so she was looking at the ceiling. Asuna grinned, also looking up at the ceiling.

"I sincerely doubt it'll stop."

Sleep was beckoning. Asuna closed her eyes, taking in everything that had happened that day. The initial bet, the bet itself, what was happening now. And as sleep took her, she felt Ayaka's arm wrap around her.

"Night...Bells."

Asuna grinned, sleep finally taking her. "You too...Blondie..."


End file.
